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Sports stars including Rafael Nadal, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Andy Murray and the
England football team have sent “get well soon” messages to an award-winning Times
sports photographer who was found unconscious by the roadside after a
cycling accident.

Marc Aspland, 50, was found by the side of a residential road in Harpenden,
Hertfordshire, after leaving a five-a-side football match on April 10. He
has no memory of the crash.

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said they were called
shortly before 1am the next day and reported the incident to police.

Mr Aspland, three times Sports Photographer of the Year and a fellow of the
Royal Photographic Society, suffered a brain haemorrhage, nerve damage and
two broken collar bones and is recovering at home. Police said they would
have to await further information from him before starting any
investigation.

Fellow sports photographers have collected “get well soon” messages from
leading sports stars, who have posed with the message #gwsmarc, or “get well
soon, Marc”, for photographs posted on Twitter.

Aspland said: “I’ve suffered enormous memory loss from before the accident to
about three weeks afterwards. You can cope with broken bones, but a brain
injury is unseen and unknown and I’m on a real learning curve.

“And I would have been working at the World Cup and Wimbledon.”

Asked about the messages from sports stars, who include Frankie Dettori, the
jockey, Boris Becker, the former tennis champion, and Alastair Cook, the
England cricket captain, he said: “That has been such a massive boost to my
confidence, knowing people are thinking of me.”

The Times campaign calls on the Government to create an annual budget
worth at least £600 million for safe cycle routes. Motoring bodies including
the AA say this would not only keep cyclists safe, but would also reduce
traffic jams for motorists by encouraging people to make short journeys by
bicycle.